For the past several years, the Lindbergh High School boys’ basketball team has been chasing a district championship with unsuccessful results.
The Flyers have been eliminated from the tournament the past four years at the hands of the Vianney Golden Griffins.
But with the Golden Griffins moving out of District 2 and into District 8, that has eliminated the possibility of Lindbergh facing its archnemesis in the first round of postseason play.
But Friday night’s District 2 championship game was far from a cakewalk for the Flyers as they edged out a 38-35 win at home over Northwest.
The win for Lindbergh avenged a 57-46 loss to the Lions earlier this month.
“Playing against Northwest, the kids had a little bit of payback on their mind,” Lindbergh head coach Jason Wolfard told the Call.
“None of these kids have ever won a district championship, so to win it the way we did was exciting.”
The Flyers (16-11, 7-1 Suburban West) found themselves down 26-22 entering the fourth quarter before rallying with a 16-9 run in the fourth for the win.
One key to Lindbergh’s win was holding Northwest’s Drew Moore to seven points and one three-pointer. Moore had been averaging 13.7 points and nearly 1.5 three-pointers a game this season.
“For us to hold Drew Moore to seven points was huge,” Wolfard said. “I think that in the fourth quarter, we started out a little more aggressive offensively, which really made the difference for us.”
Lindbergh’s Robert Williams led all scorers with a 14-point performance that included three rebounds and 4 of 5 shooting from three-point range. The senior guard is averaging 12.8 points and 3.2 rebounds a game this season.
“Robert hit the game-winner with a three-pointer and started off the game with a three-pointer,” Wolfard said. “Throughout the game, he was into it.”
The Flyers are back in action Wednesday night when they travel to Farmington to take on Jackson in the Class 5 Sectional.
Jackson (21-7) held a 30-point lead over Hillsboro in the District 1 championship game before having to cling to a 65-57 win as the Hawks hammered out 49 points in the second half.
“The one thing we know about them (Jackson) is that they’re big, so they’ll pose a size problem for us” Wolfard said. “But I know that we’re quicker, so we’re going to use that to our advantage. I just think that if we show up to play, we’ll be happy with whatever happens.”
Lindbergh’s sectional game with Jackson is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
